


Five ways to die trying.

by Kaesteranya



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-13
Updated: 2010-06-13
Packaged: 2017-10-18 23:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/194561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaesteranya/pseuds/Kaesteranya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is how things break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five ways to die trying.

**Author's Note:**

> The title’s taken from the 31 Days theme for October 8, 2007.

  


**I.**

  


He saw them go home together from their game against Nishiura: Kazu ushering Junta into the car, Junta following Kazu with his head low and his eyes darkened. He was tired, worn out from the way things had come to pass, but he could not sleep, could not do anything but lie back in his bed, flipping his cellular phone open and shut.

  
It was midnight when he finally decided to text Junta, just to see how the pitcher was doing. He fell asleep a little past 3 AM, after spending hours staring at the screen, looking at the word “EMPTY” plastered in his inbox.

  


**II.**

  


He had not seen it coming, not really – Junta was back in school with the start of the term, a little more distant and quiet, perhaps, but _there_ and relating with people whenever they ran into him. When he did not show up for their first practice session, nobody really asked questions. Junta was a pretty regular guy: regular guys had to be given their moments too. Then there was another glaring absence, and another, and another. By the second week, their coach gruffly remarked that he ought to not waste his breath with the role call when it came down to Junta’s name from there on.

  
Rio would not tell anyone this, but he sees Junta sometimes while they’re practicing, looking down from one of the windows. He tries not to stare too much though, and it’s not because he’s afraid Junta will notice. It’s because the look in Junta’s eyes scares him.

  


**III.**

  


There’s talk (grumbling) among the freshmen, talk that the upperclassmen only half-heartedly quell. “Junta Spotting” becomes a new topic during break time, a means to feed the animosity when the coach isn’t looking.

  
Rio knows that it’s his job to protest, to say something in his friend’s defense. Instead, Rio only mumbles a few contrary words, shuts his eyes and ignores it.

  


**IV.**

  


He has never gone to the school library before that point, so when he finds himself there and he looks up and realizes that Junta’s on the other side of the shelf, Rio wonders, just for a moment, if this was the big man’s way of telling him to study (cram) more. It should have been easy to speak up or wave – to just do _something_ to catch the other boy’s attention – but Rio finds himself frozen in place, and he is standing there, mouth open, eyes following as Junta takes a few books and walks off, disappearing into another set of shelves.

  
When he finally mustered up the courage to start visiting the convenience store that he knows Junta frequents because of their yakisoba buns, Junta was nowhere in sight. The lady makes it a point to tell him that he misses Junta every single time he drops by, just by a few, crucial minutes.

  


**V.**

  


It was only when he was on the brink of giving up that Rio finally encountered Junta again: they were at the train station, on different sides of the same track. It was that one, blessed hour when all the adults were at their designated workplaces and most of the kids were attending cram school or busy with club activities. There’s no one around but the two of them, standing exactly opposite of each other, surrounded by empty benches.

  
“Hey.”

  
“…Hey.”

  
“I guess the train’s late.”

  
“Mm.”

  
Rio looked down at his feet. Junta shifted his bag from one shoulder to the other. They don’t speak again. When the train comes, they sit in different cars.  



End file.
